


Fools in Love

by universal_reno



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hiding Injuries, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mando is a stubborn idiot, Mando/Corin, Minor whump, Protective Corin, Team as Family, The Force Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21919990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universal_reno/pseuds/universal_reno
Summary: In which Corin and the Child look after Mando whether he likes it or not
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), The Mandalorian/Corin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 811
Collections: Movies





	Fools in Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Family and Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758992) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



> Thanks to LadyIrina for letting me borrow her lovely OC. I hope I did him justice ♥

Corin stared down at the star chart in concentration as he traced the route he’d planned to their next hideout. He still wasn’t a pilot by any means, but he’d been practicing and after the last job the Mandalorian had announced that it was his turn to choose a planet where they could lay low for awhile.

“So if we take the jump here we should make it in ten hours tops. It’s definitely quiet. They used to send officers there for survival training, but it’s so far out not even the Empire could justify burning the fuel.”

He looked up at the Mandalorian awaiting his approval. He’d been insistent that Corin was more than qualified to choose a place, but now that it was time to learn what place that was he didn’t seem terribly interested. Hadn’t said a word in the last fifteen minutes, in fact.

“So, um, will that work or…?” Corin glanced between the chart and the Mandalorian, unable to mask his nervousness. He really didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of the man who meant more to him than anyone else in the galaxy. Well, almost anyone. The tiny green child currently fast asleep in his makeshift cradle down below was at least tied for that honor.

The Mandalorian still didn’t respond. He didn’t give any sign that he’d heard Corin at all, instead remaining slouched in the co-pilot’s seat.

“Hey Mando? You copy?” Corin waived his hand in front of the other’s face, but still nothing. He couldn’t help a small smile when it dawned on him what was going on. He’d seen more than a few Troopers over the years take advantage of the privacy their helmets offered to catch a much-needed nap during a particularly dull briefing. Apparently Mandalorians weren’t immune from the same temptation.

Corin’s first instinct was to let him sleep. He didn’t do nearly enough of that as far as he was concerned (not that Corin did much more himself). He checked that autopilot was properly engaged and turned to climb down to their living area to prepare some food for the kid, but something stopped him. He glanced back at the Mandalorian again. Was he…shivering? Corin hadn’t seen him do that since he’d nearly frozen to death the first time they’d met.

“Mando? You alright?” Corin shook his shoulder gently. Even with the armor he could feel the heat radiating from him. Way, _way_ too much to be healthy.

The Mandalorian jerked awake, hand instinctively going to where his blaster was usually holstered. But he was unarmed, having shed his weapons once they’d left the atmosphere of the last planet. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but when it did happen Corin couldn’t help feeling flattered that the other trusted him enough to let his guard down when they were together.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” Corin kept his hand on the other’s shoulder to steady him until he sank back into the seat.

“Corin? What’s happening?”

“What’s happening is your stubborn ass is trying to give navigation lessons when you’re too exhausted to keep your eyes open. If I’d flown us all into a gravity well or something it would totally have been your fault.” His tone was teasing but gentle. The Mandalorian sat up straighter, seemingly affronted regardless.

“I’m fine” he insisted. “Show me your course.”

“Not a chance. You need to rest. You’re burning up.” Corin gave a pointed glance toward the ladder down to the rest of the ship, but Mando didn’t budge.

“I’m _fine_!” He sounded almost petulant, which meant he was anything but fine. 

Corin fixed him with a disapproving glare, one hand going to his hip. It was the same expression he wore when he ordered the kid to spit out something he shouldn’t have been chewing on. It wasn’t usually successful then either.

“Come downstairs or I’ll drag you down.”

“Yes sir.” He could almost picture Mando rolling his eyes behind the helmet, though his tone and the tilt of his head betrayed amusement as well.

Corin sighed and dropped down the hatch, not bothering with the ladder. He was surprised when the Mandalorian actually followed, and even more surprised when he botched the landing and stumbled against him with a small, pained sound. Corin held him until he seemed able to take his own weight again, then lead him over to the bunk.

“You going to tell me what’s wrong?” Once Corin had him sitting down he started to help him remove the armor. He half expected to be shoved away, possibly punched considering how touchy Mando could be about these things, but the other only tensed for a moment before returning to the task at hand.

“You going to leave me in peace if I don’t?”

“Not likely.”

“Last bounty may have grazed me.”

“You were shot?!” Just as he said it Corin’s hand brushed over a tear in the flight suit Mando wore under his armor. The blood surrounding it wasn’t obvious against the dark fabric, but now that he knew where to look he realized his arm was covered in it.

“Grazed.” Mando insisted, though even with the helmet Corin could hear it was said through gritted teeth.

“Hell of a graze. There’s blood everywhere!” Corin left the ‘you idiot’ unsaid, though it was clearly implied. He had some nerve pulling a stunt like this when he was always badgering Corin about not looking after his own well-being!

“C’mon, let’s get this off you. I need to have a look.”

The full implications of that order didn’t dawn on Corin until the Mandalorian was dragging down the zipper of his flight suit to reveal smooth tan skin one millimeter at a time. Corin’s breath caught in his throat and he stared, transfixed, until the other cursed in pain.

“Easy, here, let me.” Corin had imagined what it would be like to get Mando out of his clothes more times than he cared to admit even to himself. What he hadn’t imagined was the fabric catching on a hastily applied gauze pad, stiff with dried blood. Doubly so the angry red stripes radiating from the wound.

Corin pealed back the bandage and had to turn away to swallow down a wave of nausea. He wasn’t squeamish about blood and had patched up injured comrades in the field on more than one occasion, but by the time things got to this stage it had always been a medic’s problem.

“Fuck, how long has it been like this?” he choked out.

The Mandalorian glanced down at the wound, then up at Corin, and had the decency to seem at least somewhat ashamed.

“It didn’t seem that bad before” he offered.

“Not that bad?!” Corin glared down at him. He was shaking with a mix of anger and worry that he didn’t even attempt to hide. “You absolute…I don’t even…What am I going to do with you?”

He stalked off to the cabinet across the room where they kept medical supplies even though he had no idea what he could do for such a bad infection. Was this how Mando felt whenever he got hurt? He hoped not. The last thing he wanted was to be a source of worry.

As he passed the kid’s cradle a pair of big green ears popped up over the side. The little one chirped at him and raised his arms, demanding to be picked up. Corin took a deep breath, knowing that at the moment his own anger and fear were the only things he needed to shield the kid from.

“Hey buddy.” He scooped him up and balanced him on his hip while he rummaged through the medical supplies. The kid looked from Corin to where the Mandalorian was laid out and squeaked.

“Yes, he is a reckless idiot, isn’t he?” Corin said to the child, bouncing him gently against his hip. “It’s alright, we’ll get him fixed up okay?”

The kid just squeaked more urgently, making grabby hands towards the Mandalorian and trying to squirm out of Corin’s arms. The ex-Trooper just managed to keep hold of him along with the packet of bacta patches and bottle of antiseptic he’d gathered.

“Alright, alright. But you have to let him rest, okay? He’s not feeling too great.”

Not that Corin could claim to be either. Now that he’d had a moment he’d managed to push aside his panic like he’d been trained to do, and it had settled into a painful knot in the pit of his stomach.

He set the kid down on the bunk and turned his attention to seeing what he could do by way of first aid. Mando appeared to be focused on the kid, though whether that was as a distraction from the pain when Corin poured antiseptic over the wound or because he was angry at him for getting emotional was impossible to say.

The kid climbed up to perch on the Mandalorian’s chest and gave Corin a meaningful look. Corin glanced between the two of them and Mando shrugged, a gesture that Corin mirrored a moment later when the kid closed his eyes and let one hand hover over the wound. Oh. He recognized that look. The last time he’d seen it he’d been the one the kid was focused on as he was dragged back from the verge of death by something he still couldn’t explain.

Corin scarcely dared to breathe as he watched his companion’s flesh knit itself back together until only a faint scar remained. The kid gazed up at him with an air of satisfaction and gave a huge yawn before curling up with his head resting on his caretaker’s stomach.

“Are you…good?”

Corin blinked, still not entirely able to process what he’d seen despite having experienced it for himself before. He pressed his hand to the side of Mando’s neck and found that, while he was still warmer than he should have been, the fever had already begun to ease.

“I think so?” The Mandalorian flexed his arm, testing to reassure them both it wasn’t some bizarre shared hallucination.

Corin slumped forward until his face was pressed against the Mandalorian’s shoulder. He tensed but didn’t pull away.

“Don’t do that to me again” he pleaded against the other’s skin. “You spend all your time looking out for us. You’ve gotta look out for yourself too.”

“From one reckless idiot to another?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Corin was surprised when he felt gentle fingers tangle in his hair and begin combing through the unruly strands. He’d gotten used to Mando being soft with the kid, but having anyone treat him that way let alone the usually stoic bounty hunter was still unexpected. He let himself relax under the touch for awhile before he forced himself to get up.

“I’ll take the watch. You still need to rest.”

He could sense a protest in the way Mando pushed himself up from the mattress before he even said anything.

“What did I just tell you? I’m not asking.” He’d had more than enough experience with the ‘and that’s an order, soldier’ tone to get his point across.

The Mandalorian, obedient for once in his life, laid back again and pulled a blanket over himself and the sleeping child. Corin nodded in approval and turned to head back up to the cockpit, content to keep watch over his little family.


End file.
